As Zilan’s body was undergoing changes, his mind was also experiencing its fair share of developments.
His consciousness stirred and in the next instance he woke up in a space that aside from being extremely bright appeared rather empty. There was nothing to see, nothing to marvel at, just emptiness.
“Even I couldn’t foresee that we would be meeting so soon.” An aged voice said in a casual tone.
Zilan was sure he’d never heard this voice before but for some reason listening to the man speak caused his heart to skip a beat and his body to freeze.
“Who is he?” thought Zilan.
“Who am I?” The aged voice responded, much to Zilan’s shock as well as disbelief.
‘He can read my thoughts?’
“No need to be alarmed. One day, you shall be able to accomplish this small feat with ease. Time, all that you require is time.” The voice got weaker the longer he spoke causing Zilan to feel emotions he never through he’d be able to experience again. Despair, loss, regret….
“Who are you?” He asked once again. An answer already formed in his mind but he didn’t dare believe it.
“You already know who I am.” The space suddenly turned from all white to flamingo pink, the calming sound of waves as well as an occasional, almost inaudible popping sound, started sounding out throughout the surroundings.
Tears soundlessly flowed down Zilan’s face as he thought about the owner of the aged voice. “Ancestor?”
“You’ve truly surprised me little one. Your methods are ingenious, you’re thoughts innovative…..you’re special Zilan.” Hearing this, tears continued to flow from the eyes of Zilan.
“How you were able to meet Origin might seem like a coincidence now however, in the future you’ll come to realize the truth, no, I will be the one to tell you the truth.” Zaum’s voice carried a trace of joy.
“You’re alive?” Zilan seized weeping as he exclaimed in shock.
“Ha…No…..No, I am not alive.”
Zilan understood that he’d hit on something he shouldn’t have thus he began to blame himself.
“No need to worry little one, I’m fine. With my dying will, I will pass on to you what you require to accomplish our race’s mission.”
“Mission? Our race? What does that have to do with…” interrupted Zilan.
Zaum chuckled, cutting Zilan off, “These are things you cannot know. At least not until you reach the level where you will actually be able to understand the entirety my words.”
“We must part now. I’ve expended too much energy dealing with Origin this time. We will not be able to meet again for an extremely long time however, I’d like you to be strong during this period. The Universe will test you. Your life will be hard, but keep pushing, for your Path is one that will shape not only the future of our Race but the Universe as a whole. For now, live your life like water, adapt to whatever environment appears before you and let it shape you into something that cannot be stopped by anyone or anything. In the future when you no longer require to be like water, I will appear again. At that time, I will impart to you a few ‘Truths’ as well as your complete Inheritance. The third time we meet will also be the last, after that you will know everything about everything and I will disappear forever.”
“You are a very special child Zilan, never forget that! I relied on my gifts too much in life and I suffered because of it, you are different. We may appear similar now, but in time as you rise higher and higher, not just you but every being in existence will come to realise that you’re not just a ‘Scorched’. Just like me, they’ll see how much more you actually are. I look forward to that day, goodbye little one.”
“Nooo, wait!” Cried Zilan. Unfortunately, it was too late the space went black and he was kicked out returning to his body.
Although he did not know the exact details of what transpired whilst he was unconscious, Zilan gathered from the current state of his body that Zaum must have revealed himself in order to save him from the ‘pool’. He was touched but it was also like he did not quite understand how to properly describe his emotions.
Luckily, he could not afford to think about it now as his body had reached a critical stage. He was a single step away from breaking through to the soul-compression stage. All he needed was a little bit of insight which to be completely honest was not that hard to come by considering his current environment.
Despite this though, Zilan did not use the insights from Origin, instead he decided to rely on something Zaum had told him.
“Be like Water.” He whispered.
His body responded by shivering, the flood gates immediately opened. Vast amounts of Universe energy was being absorbed into his body before eventually being stored away and then slowly converted into soul-compression stage Blood force.
The Origin laws of water under the command of ‘Origin’ entered Zilan’s sea of consciousness where his soul, core and the Book of Path resided.
All of his water attribute Blood force was forced out of the core by ‘Origin’. The Blood force was then forced into the soul by ‘Origin’ before the Origin laws of water entered the soul as well, completing the mixture.
What happened next was exceptionally special. Zilan’s soul was fusing with his attribute slowly but surely, the colour quickly changed, as did its power.
This was not the special part though. In truth what happened next was the true game changer.
Upon fusing with the water attribute, Zilan felt connected to the Universe in a way he found, intoxicating. Because the soul was his foundation, his proof of existence, having it fuse with his water attribute, something that was the product of the Universe opened the door for him into a new world where he was linked to the Universe.
The benefits of this, like with all soul compression stage practitioners could be felt from a defensive stand point. This was something he would have to explore on his own.
The next thing that occurred to Zilan was the shedding away of the second stage of the Marks of Tribulation. This of course, unlocked a few things for him but the most important development was the fact that the amount of Blood Force the core would produce from now on would be a significant amount higher than before.
Zilan’s wings, the young girl, stared at him in both delight as well as shock. In the time since her birth, she had never seen Origin act this way.
She sighed, seeing that her Master was now stable, she grabbed onto Zilan and decided to take him back.
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